FDNY Must Accommodate Black Firefighters With Facial Hair Issue

The New York City Fire Department’s grooming policy requiring firefighters to shave down to the skin violated the rights of four black firefighters with a medical condition affecting the hair-bearing areas of the face and neck, a federal judge in Brooklyn ruled.

Prior to May 2018, Salik Bey, Clyde Phillips, Stephen Seymour, and Terrel Joseph were allowed to maintain closely cropped facial hair as an accommodation for their pseudofolliculitis barbae, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York said Wednesday. PCB predominantly affects black men and is exacerbated by shaving with a razor down to the skin, ...